Professional Knowledge and Educational Restructuring in Europe

Developing a Conceptual Framework for Understanding

The report shows responses that are quite like aspects of the Portuguese and Greek (certainly older generation) work life narratives.

‘The recent history of the Spanish educational system just mentioned provided a quite concrete picture of restructuring from a system’s narrative. However, it failed to be identified as a meaningful player for the teachers themselves. A high degree of scepticism and cynicism was observed regarding the impact of policies in everyday practices. First and foremost the material tells that the three teachers perceive their profession and their work on a daily, personal basis rather then embedded in large socio-political contexts. Therefore, restruc­turing wasn’t thought of as a kind of local expression of global dynamics, so a very interesting gap remains between their conception of the system and the theoretical causes and explanations some theorists of the field may put forward. Even when drawing explicitly the attention to changes in the legislation from our side, this was not perceived as influencing day to day business, either because changes are too cosmetic or lacking the necessary time to become applied practice. The educational projects associated with the different political parties were met with a dismissive shrug, unable to affect their working con­ditions towards the better. What happens on the level of politics is perceived as having little or nothing to do with the real necessities in the school.

‘Sophia (5): I don’t care about a lot of political things, but on your daily life… That’s also why I believe a little less each day in political things. I mean, the little I know, they disappoint me so much that beyond my daily life, why should I care about politics’

Rosa’s view is similar:

‘In her eyes it is not that the actual laws don’t function but rather that they are missing the necessary resources to be actually implemented’.